Cantigalicious
The Cantigas de Santa Maria were compiled by Alfonso X (el Sabio) around 1240 in Northern Spain. They all recount stories of how the Virgin Mary rescued ordinary people who were in dire straits and called on her for help. (A lot of the time, she's reattaching people's limbs or putting their tongues back in their heads. I prefer to think of these as the "Surgeon Mary" variety...) This kind of story was popular throughout Europe at the time, and this collection was inspired by a French collection called Les Miracles de Nostre-Dame by Gautier de Coincy. Anyway, they were written, as you said, in the vernacular language, and were generally tuneful and attractive musically (they have refrains, for one thing). They would probably have been sung (by laypeople) as entertainment in court and maybe by pilgrims on their way to one of Mary's shrines.
My favorite cantiga recording was made by Camerata Mediterranea (with Joel Cohen). They use a great deal of Arabic influence, which is cool because the Moors were all over Spain back then.
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